By Sarah Rohrs
The Vallejo Times Herald
VALLEJO, Calif. — Vallejo firefighters continued Monday to investigate the cause of a deadly weekend blaze which has raised questions about whether recent fire station closures are, at least, partly to blame.
Two women died in the fire that ripped through a South Vallejo home at 140 Jordan St. early Saturday morning.
“It’s very sad. It’s tragic,” said neighbor Jacob Bunczyk who lives across from the house where Clarenza Burch, 85, and Geraldine Burch, 57, died in the fire.
Clarenza Burch died of smoke inhalation and burns and her daughter Geraldine Burch died of smoke inhalation, Solano County Coroner’s Deputy Adrian Garcia said Monday.
Some neighbors say the fire trucks took too long to arrive, and they have less fire protection since the city closed the nearest facility, fire station 22 at Chester and Fifth streets.
Two fire stations closed in March of last year amid threats of bankruptcy and deep budget cuts — station 22, and station 27 at Columbus and Ascot Parkway.
Then, last July, the Mare Island station closed. At that time, a truck company (a fire truck without the ability to transport water) was moved to station 27, which partially opened the Columbus Parkway facility, Sherman said.
Vallejo now has six stations and 18 personnel on duty at any time, said Vallejo Fire Chief Russ Sherman.
Response times have suffered citywide, Sherman said. “The biggest danger in station closures is response times citywide and that’s occurring on a daily basis,” he said.
Sherman said it’s impossible to say if the closure of station 22 played a factor in the Jordan Street fire’s outcome, or if trucks from the shuttered facility would have arrived before others.
Firefighters from the next nearest station in Glen Cove arrived in seven minutes, said Vallejo Fire Department spokesman Bill Tweedy. Next on the scene were trucks from station 24 on Oakwood Avenue station in eight minutes, Sherman said. Then, crews from station 21, at Marin and Louisiana streets, got there in nine minutes, he said.
Firefighters found heavy smoke and flames coming from the one-story house, and distraught family members outside saying two women were trapped inside, according to the VFD. Crews removed one woman who was taken to a hospital where she was pronounced dead. But they couldn’t reach the other woman who had already died, Tweedy said.
Buncyzk and his father, Bill Bunczyk, said it took fire trucks nearly 20 minutes to arrive to the fire after they called 911. “By the time the fire trucks arrived, the flames were way up in the air,” Jacob Bunczyk said.
Sherman denied that was the case. Response times seem longer for those waiting for fire trucks to arrive, he said.
The seven minute response time is reasonable, Mayor Osby Davis said. Firefighters from station 22 might have arrived just a minute or two before trucks from other stations, he added.
“I don’t believe the closure of the station had anything to do with the fatalities. That is not to say this office and the council is not saddened by the loss of life,” Davis added.
Vallejo police, who arrived about two minutes before the fire trucks, found the house was already “fully engulfed” in flames, Davis said.
But, Councilwoman Erin Hannigan said it makes sense that station 22 crews would have gotten to the fire ahead of the Glen Cove trucks. “If we (would have) had that station open, the response time would have been sooner. It’s closer than the other stations.”
Davis said reopening closed fire stations is a major concern, but such a task would be difficult with dwindling reserves. “As we do our upcoming budget we will continue to look at ways to make sure we maintain safety of our citizens and their property,” he said.
Three days after the Jordan Street blaze, the smell of the charred house, which firefighters deemed a total loss, still lingered in the air.
The Buncyzkes said both women who died in the fire were friendly and hard-working. At least 11 people were in the house at the time of the fire, officials said.
Nine other residents, mostly family members of the victims, who were displaced by the two-alarm blaze have been relocated to a three-bedroom apartment in Vallejo, the Solano County Chapter of the American Red Cross said.
Red Cross Solano County chapter manager of disaster services John Gourdine said the landlord of the tenants found housing for the extended family. He said there were at least four children living at the home. Neighbors said numerous children appeared to be under 7.
“They were just trying to make it each day” in the tough economy, Jacob Buncyzyk said.
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